UFC's updated pound-for-pound rankings do not include light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg. Historical precedent shows this is not unprecedented — Dominic Cruz, Jan Blachowicz, and Aljamain Sterling were all omitted from the P4P list for significant periods while holding titles, citing reasons ranging from injury-related inactivity to a 2.5-month delay before Blachowicz appeared following his UFC 253 title win.
Carlos Ulberg's name is missing from the UFC's updated pound-for-pound rankings despite the New Zealand fighter holding the light heavyweight title, a development that has drawn attention but is far from without precedent in the promotion's history.
Ulberg, 35, carries a 15-1-0 record and represents City Kickboxing, the Auckland-based gym that has produced multiple UFC champions. Standing six-foot-four with a 77-inch reach, the orthodox striker is one of the more prolific volume fighters in the division, landing 6.54 significant strikes per minute at a 55 percent accuracy rate — numbers that rank among the higher outputs in the 205-pound class. Despite holding the title, the updated rankings list him at number three in the divisional standings rather than in the champion slot, and he does not appear on the pound-for-pound board at all.
The UFC has made this kind of omission before. Jan Blachowicz, now 43 and currently ranked fifth at light heavyweight with a 29-11-2 record, was left off the pound-for-pound list for roughly two and a half months following his title-winning performance at UFC 253. Dominic Cruz and Aljamain Sterling, the 26-5-0 featherweight now ranked fourth in that division, also spent significant stretches as reigning champions without appearing on the pound-for-pound list, in some cases attributed to injury-related inactivity.
Why it matters
- Ulberg's omission raises questions about the UFC's criteria for pound-for-pound inclusion beyond simply holding a belt
- Historical cases involving Blachowicz, Cruz, and Sterling suggest the UFC has applied this standard inconsistently across eras and divisions
- The situation highlights a gap between divisional champion status and broader recognition on the promotion's cross-divisional ranking
